AMA Toronto has revealed the six new members who will join Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends (CMHOL) this year.
Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends, which was founded in 2004, honours the industry’s most inspiring marketing professionals who’ve had an outsized impact on the field throughout their careers.
The new class of inductees for 2023 are:
- Lisa Lisson, SVP of hubs, ramps, and global operations control, FedEx
- Noel O’Dea, president and founder, Target Marketing and Communications
- Sandra Sanderson, SVP, marketing, Empire Company Limited and Sobeys
- Chris Staples, founding partner, Rethink
- Ian Grais, founding partner, Rethink
- Tom Shepansky, founding partner, Rethink
The 2023 award recipients include a number of firsts. FedEx’s Lisson is the first marketing leader from the transportation sector to be honoured by CMHOL, while Sanderson is the first woman from the grocery retail industry to be inducted. O’Dea, whose agency is likely best known for its long list of poetic and picturesque brand campaigns for Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, becomes the first marketer from the province to be inaugurated. And Rethink founders Staples, Grais and Shepansky are the first to be inducted as a trio.
The 2023 Marketing Legends were chosen from this year’s nominations by a selection committee made up of a distinguished and diverse group of marketing experts, and chaired by 2020 Legend inductee Nancy Marcus, former CMO at Kruger Products and one of Canada’s most recognized marketing professionals in the CPG space.
“This year’s inductees into Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends are all exceptional trailblazers,” says Marcus. “They represent a diverse mix of men and women from St. John’s to Vancouver, from agencies, brands and differing marketing disciplines.”
The award winners will be honoured and formally inducted by AMA Toronto on May 10 at an exclusive in-person gala event.
The CMHOL has also announced this year’s recipients of the Marketer-on-the-Rise designations, which celebrates up-and-comers who represent the next generation of influential marketing leaders.
This year’s Marketer-on-the-Rise award is shared between Hyla Nayeri and Adrien Bettio, founders of 437 Swimwear, a luxury swimwear and apparel brand that launched in 2017.
In addition to their induction into Canada’s Marketing Hall of Legends, award winners will participate in AMA Toronto’s popular Legendary Leadership Series of live events, featured CMHOL content and the new video series “Legend’s Journey.”
